Taiwo Oyedele, the chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, has explained the reason behind the proposed change of name from the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, to the Nigeria Revenue Service, NRS.
Recall that one of bills currently before the National Assembly included the Nigeria Revenue Service Establishment Bill which proposes to replace the FIRS Establishment Act with a new law to create the NRS.
Speaking at a stakeholder session with tax consultants and Chief Financial Officers, CFOs, Mr Oyedele explained that the FIRS is not just a revenue agency for the federal government.
According to him, the agency collects taxes that go into the Federation Account, meaning it serves the entire federation, not just the federal government.
Mr Oyedele also stressed that regulators should not be directly involved in collecting taxes and levies, which is a key part of the proposed reforms.
He said: “The Nigeria Revenue Service Establishment Bill is set to repeal the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) Establishment Act and create the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS).
“The FIRS is not the sole revenue agency of the federal government; the taxes they collect go to the Federation Account, meaning they are the revenue agency of the Federation.
“Therefore, their name does not accurately represent their functions. We propose renaming it to NRS and giving them the responsibility of administering other taxes, levies, and revenues for the government. We don’t want regulators collecting taxes and levies.”
